One of the most notable aspects of
"American Idol" Season 12 has been the feud and ongoing tension between judges
Mariah Carey and
Nicki Minaj. But, in two recent "Idol" episodes, the women seemed to get along just fine in one key way: Their dresses matched. Why and how does something like this happen?

First of all, one thing needs to be made very clear. These dresses aren't just a little similar -- they're almost identical in color. We're not talking about a basic black either. One coordinated fashion choice gave us a super-bright red-orange while the other was a lovely (still bright) shade of aquamarine.

Assuming that this is not just a straight-up coincidence, here are a few theories about what's going on with Mariah and Nicki's dresses.

It's part of the rivalry.These competitive and incompatible women might have decided to turn their feud into a competition over who can wear the same color better. Why not? They argue about everything else.

The producers want to encourage the idea of peace between the judges.While there's no such thing as bad publicity, the Nicki-Mariah feud came awfully close for "American Idol." For the most part, their disagreements have mostly been uncomfortable to watch. The producers of the show might therefore want to portray a semblance of unity. Similar dresses will do that.

Costume people don't talk to each other.If this is all an accident, then the respective costumers for Ms. Carey and Ms. Minaj are most definitely not communicating.

Someone is messing with the lady judges.This may be a bit far-fetched, but what if there was a disgruntled costumer -- or two -- that wanted to make Nicki and/or Mariah look silly. Making sure that the ladies' costumes were similar could do that, especially if this isn't being enjoyed by the judges.

Could there be another explanation for these color similarities? Is it all coincidence? We may simply have to guess in the weeks ahead.